The Ministry of the Interior remained the public administration most frequently challenged by citizens before the Ombudsman Institution, followed by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The sharp rise in complaints prompted Tariq to advocate expanding local mediation mechanisms to improve relations between public administrations and citizens.
Presenting the annual report in Rabat on Wednesday, July 23, Tariq said the institution registered 9,958 cases in 2025, up from 7,954 in 2024, representing an increase of 25.29%. He said the rise reflected growing reliance on institutional mediation and underscored the need to strengthen the institution’s regional presence.
To that end, the Ombudsman proposed to the Head of Government the creation of regional ombudsmen to bring the institution closer to citizens. He also advocated appointing local mediators in healthcare centers to facilitate dialogue between patients, healthcare professionals and hospital administrators.
The breakdown of complaints shows that the administrations receiving the highest number of citizen requests also generated the largest number of disputes. The Ministry of the Interior topped the list with 1,918 complaints, followed by the Ministry of Justice with 1,421 and the Ministry of Economy and Finance with 1,288.
An independent national institution, the Ombudsman examines complaints lodged by citizens against public administrations, promotes the amicable settlement of disputes and works to improve the quality of public services.
Regarding case processing, Tariq noted a slight improvement in the time taken by public administrations to respond. In 2025, administrations took an average of 81 days to reply to the Ombudsman’s preliminary correspondence, two days fewer than in 2024.
He nevertheless described the progress as insufficient, stressing the need to strengthen communication between public administrations and citizens to prevent disputes and resolve them more quickly. He also welcomed the establishment of a National Ombudsman Day, describing it as a tool to raise awareness and support the continuous improvement of the institution’s work.
Asked about the ongoing dispute between the government and lawyers, Tariq said his institution had not received any request to mediate the conflict.
In closing, the Ombudsman called for reforms to further improve the responsiveness of public administrations, shorten processing and enforcement times, and reinforce institutional mediation as a pillar of administrative fairness, good governance and higher standards in public service.
